


Theodore and Kacey

by RayneReier



Category: Original Work
Genre: Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:19:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28344516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayneReier/pseuds/RayneReier





	1. can the Tiger bite?

“Finally! Some good news!” I sighed with relief at the bright red 52 on my paper.

My friend leaned over, almost falling out of his chair, “Oh! What did you get. El and I have a bet of whether you’d pass or not. Of course, I, had the utmost faith in you…”

“You bet I would fail.”

“Ah, alas you know me too well.”

A voice piped up from my other side. “Looks like someone owes me $5.”

My two friends were Albert Williams and Lawerence Bartlett. If I were to describe their appearances I guess I would have to say… good looking? At least according to the girls in our grade, and probably the surrounding grades as well for Albert. 

“Finally, it’s time for homeroom. I thought this day would never end.”

“Relax dude, I bet your only plan is to go home and study.”

“No, I have…”

“Yes we know, we know. You have your stupid internship thingy. At the rocket company. It’s not like you don’t find a way to bring it up all the time.” Lawrence rolled his eyes as the two kicked back in their chairs. Fortunately for us, not only did we share math class together; we also shared a homeroom which also happened to be Ms. Parker, our math teacher. We could relax as everyone hurried to the final 30 minutes of school. 

“Al, please. No feet on the desk.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He said as he reluctantly put his feet down. Ms. Parker was a young but tired woman. Clearly in a love-hate relationship with her job, her enthusiasm was reciprocated by only a few students. She put her head in her hands and sighed.

“Everything alright Parker?”

“It’s Ms. Parker to you Theodore.”

“Please, call me Theo.” I gave her a playful grin.

“Theo, please stop flirting with the teacher, El’ll get jealous.”

“Yeah right I would. I’ll have you know, I’m not into that.”

“Oh really now? Then what are you into then.” Albert leaned forward with reinvigorated interest.

“Shut it you two. Really though Ms. Parker. You aren’t your peppy self.”

“Ah, it’s not something I can share with students.”

“Not even us?” Even though the year had just started, homeroom teachers moved with the class all four years in order to ‘encourage a positive learning environment’ or something. I was pretty sure it was just put in place to deal with troublemakers who’d exploit teachers who didn’t know them well.

“Ah. No. Especially not you three.”

“What’s with the disdain in your voice!”

“If I told you three, I’d never hear the end of it. So it’s best I keep it to myself.” I resigned to pouting in my chair as the rest of our homeroom wandered in. No student or teacher liked having to stay in this forsaken building for another 30 minutes, but administration mandated it. Missing a few classes would be overlooked, I skipped one today, but missing homeroom was a sin in their eyes. Maybe it was their way of keeping up appearances with the state, like “Here! Look! 99% attendance rate!”.

As the bell rung, Ms. Parker went to shut the door. She stood there for a second confused, the rest of the class chattered on as normal. Without changing her expression, she stepped aside and I watched as someone I’d never seen before entered the room. _She’s beautiful._ _Wait what? Where did that come from?_ I rapidly struggled to restart my brain after it gave it on me. After a head shake that was probably a touch too violent I looked back up to see Ms. Parker talking to the girl in what appeared to be a one-sided conversation. With the class still talking I couldn’t make out what she was saying but I knew Ms. Parker well enough to tell she was confused and asking questions.

Slowly the class began to notice the events unfolding and the noise died down. Ms. Parker faltered in the conversation and looked up at the class embarrassed. I could feel the awkwardness but my curiosity won out. I stood up to ask what was going on but the girl turned around and my words died in my throat.  _ Ah! _ Her glare was intense. I had dealt with my fair share of mean girls but they were always paper tigers. This, this was the real deal. Doing my best not to squeak like a terrified mouse I fell back into my seat. Luckily the rest of the class was too busy hiding their own fear to notice mine. Her angry eyes swept across the classroom before turning back to Ms. Parker. While our teacher tried to compose herself the girl leaned over the desk and stuck her finger on something. 

Ms. Parker gulped and nodded. “Feel free to sit wherever. Class, um, this is the new student I mentioned a week ago at the beginning of the year. Her name is…” She looked to the girl for an introduction or maybe permission, only to shirk back when their eyes met. “Her name is Kacey Callahan. I hope you will welcome her with open arms.”  _ It seems more appropriate to ask her to welcome us. _ “And uh. Now to uh. Homeroom announcements.” I tuned out our unfortunate teacher and turned back to my friends.

“Talk about scary that one.”

“Al, you think all girls are scary.”

“Uh. I’m inclined to agree with Al on this one.”

“Anyways, did you decide where we are going today?” It was my day to chose where we went after school for a snack before Albert went off to his internship. Monday’s were the donut shop and Friday’s were usually reserved for Lawerence’s house to hangout.

“Hm. Yes. I thought about it and I decided to mix it up with pretzels.”

Albert rolled his eyes. “That’s hardly mixing it up. All last year Tuesday’s were pretzels.”

“Hey! It’s been a whole year.”

“Since you had a pretzel? That’s not true.”

“Okay, okay. But respect the rules. You choose whatever you want for tomorrow.” We lightly bickered the rest of homeroom away. While I didn’t like the extra time spent in school, it was kinda nice to have dedicated time to hangout and chat. I couldn’t quite stay focused on Lawrence’s recount of his recent manga adventures. My eyes kept being drawn to the new girl who had chosen a window seat in about the middle of the room. She was receiving some attention from others, I was particularly concerned about Theresa Houston and her gaggle. She was a known bully at the school but she didn’t particularly press the issue if you stood up to her; I know from personal experience. I had to admire her bravery, or stupidity, for walking up to try and talk to the unknown force in the room. I absentmindedly said something to my friends and wandered up to the front of the room and to Ms. Parker’s desk. It was a technique I had perfected in middle school to eavesdrop on gossip, it was the perfect combination of camouflage and reduced background noise.

“Heyyy Kaaaaccceyy.” The way she drew out her words made me want to puke. I reached the desk and was about to start a random conversation with Ms. Parker when I noticed she was listening too.

“That’s pretty bold of you showing up a week late to school. Why don’t you tell us why? Or for that matter why you transferred here so late into high school. It couldn’t be because you’re dumb and flunked out. No surely not.” Although it certainly seemed like she was expecting a response to that. “Mayyybeee your parent’s job… situation changed and you had to move. Na, I bet you have the perfect family right?” I had been on the receiving end of this before, it was a Theresa classic. It was perfect here because there was nothing a teacher could do but she could get you riled up by eventually stepping on a landmine of a topic. 

“Hey! Hey! Why don’t you talk back. You know it’s rude to ignore someone.” Theresa had plopped herself on the edge of Kacey’s desk and reached a finger out to poke Kacey’s cheek.  _ That’s risky, even for you. _ A loud crack silenced the room. The two halves of a pencil fell onto Kacey’s agenda. “Oops. Did I make you angry?” Theresa’s voice rang throughout the empty classroom. Ms. Parker started to get up but I caught a glance of Kacey’s eyes; contempt was pouring out, stopping it was a dream ambitious even for Ms. Parker. “You know we don’t tolerate rude people here at Lewis Marsh Preparatory High School. Ms. Paaarker, Kacey is being rude.”

By now, even Ms. Parker had read the room and was desperately trying to think of something to do. I felt bad for the poor woman, she had the worst homeroom ever. Kacey stood up while Theresa continued taunting. In the middle of a jab, Theresa went tumbling to the ground. If possible, the room got even quieter. Shocked, Theresa only stammered. I looked up to Kacey expecting the triumphant face of one who got revenge on a bully. I was glad she was able to stand up for herself. However, her face spoke of a storm that just started brewing.

A desk went flying, then a chair, then a book bag. Students ducked out of the way and dove into the hallway. Poor Ms. Parker was too stunned to react. I sighed and took a measure of leadership over my classmates.

“Okay! Everyone out, now. No. Now!” Theresa's friends helped her to her feet and out of the classroom while mine ran up to me amid flying classroom furniture.

“Uh. Theo? Plan?”

“Nope! Not me. Ms. Parker? Ms. Parker! Please do something.”

“I uh… I’m not prepared for this. Maybe. Maybe I should consult the handbook. Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.” She slowly started reaching into her desk for the student handbook. 

I slammed the half open drawer shut, “No! Stop that. Do something!” Luckily we were saved by the neighboring math teacher, Mr. Clay. He was a big, burly man with a heart way too big.

“Oh no! What’s happened here?” In many ways, he was similar to Ms. Parker. Maybe I was too hasty thinking rescue had arrived. “Please stop! You might hurt someone or yourself!”

“Oh don’t worry, I think she knows that.”  _ It’s probably her intention. _ After a tense minute, she began to calm down. Worn out, she plopped herself down on the floor in the middle of the ruined classroom. She crawled over to her bag and dragged out a water bottle to take a large swig. None of us spoke until a real adult arrived in the form of the assistant principal Mrs. Henson. She was an older woman with a harsh attitude and a kind mentality. As long as you didn’t break any rules she was a lovely woman; unfortunately, I don’t have personal experience with that side of her.

“What is going on here! Kacey! What is the meaning of this? Young lady, you are coming with me right this instant.” With a slightly kinder voice, she turned to Ms. Parker and Mr. Clay. “Honey. Feel free to dismiss your homeroom early. Mr. Clay, please head back to your room and make sure your students are okay. I appreciate you stopping in.” I gulped as she turned to us. “You three. You are coming too. To the principal’s office. Now. Feel free to grab your bags though.”

“Theo!” Albert hissed.

“What? It’s not my fault!” He glared at me.

“To be fair we always end up in the principal’s office when you’re around,” Lawrence added.

“Correlation does not equal causation. I’m just… unlucky! That’s all.” My friends rolled their eyes as we sulked behind the Assistant Principal.

We were released a touch later than the rest of the classes.

“Sorry guys, I’ll have to pass on the pretzels today. I don’t want to be late.”

“That’s okay. I think I’ve had enough excitement for today. Theo, are you okay going by yourself?”

“Yeah, I guess. Sorry for dragging you into this.” Despite having little to do with the whole situation, I did feel a bit bad for making them suffer interrogation from disciplinary forces. Usually, I did my best to take most of the blame myself whenever we got caught, whether that be lurking in the building after hours, sneaking food into a ceremony, or pranking a teacher. The events unfolded a bit too quickly and unexpectedly for me to get my friends out of the crossfire.

“It’s alright. It’s not like any of us did anything wrong.”

“This time.”

“Yeah, this time.” They both gave me a knowing look.

“Hey shush. You could choose not to partake, I just offer... opportunities. They do come with risk and I think it’s important that you acknowledge that.” We laughed our way through the empty hallways and headed home.

Pretzel in hand I wandered into my house. I wouldn’t call the probably expensive apartment a home. The only resident other than my cat and I was Marie.

“Hi Marie. I’m home. Oh. What do you know. You aren’t. I wonder when you’ll be home. Ah right, it’s anyone’s guess because you don’t tell me anything.” While harsh, I did fully stand behind my attitude. If she didn’t want to spend time with me or tell me about her life then I didn’t either. I coaxed my adorable cat, Pharra, over.

“Hiiiii. I’m home! Yes, I know! Did you miss me?” I tended to my cat while I tidied the kitchen a bit. Judging by my parent’s footprint on the house, I was the only one to ever use the high tech kitchen. There wasn’t a lot of mess to clean up but I love procrastinating. Eventually, I wandered to my room. It wasn’t pretty but it was clean and mine. There were limited aesthetics around the room like plants and posters of rock bands; although I suppose those contradicted each other a bit. My skateboards were shoved unceremoniously under my bed but my bookcase was tidy and well stocked with romance novels; I longed for a romantic story like the ones I read about, but reality was harsh. I slid in front of my computer and logged on. Webpages of fanfiction flew by accompanied by wiki pages of video game knowledge. In here everything existed harmoniously, I loved it. 


	2. can a one-sided conversation be mutually beneficial?

I wasn’t tired by the time night had rolled around. Marie had neither texted me nor stopped by my room, which was fine by me. I wasn’t even sure if she’d be home tonight. I debated between skateboards before grabbing the longboard with a space decal on the back. I wasn’t doing anything crazy so simple and sleek was good for tonight. I cruised down a couple of streets I knew few people would be on at this time and ended up behind a popular wholesale store in town. I checked the car in the staff parking lot.  _ Nice, just as expected. Freeman is on shift tonight. _ I quickly threw my skateboard behind some bushes and clambered on top of a dumpster. After shimmying along a window sill and negotiating some bars I got to the ladder leading to the roof. I discovered this secret place during my last year of middle school and since then it became my favorite late-night place. 

Albert and Lawerence knew of it of course but both refused to come for various reasons; it’s too cold, it’s too late, it’s sketchy, etc. Eventually, I gave up asking them. But that was okay, it stayed my special personal space. On the roof, there was a skylight with a couple of screws loosened just enough to be able to turn them by hand. Every year after winter time I had to bring a screwdriver to adjust the screws it was such a pain. But my pertinacious attitude paid off and I quietly slipped inside.

To anyone but a local, the mess of shelving and boxes created an inescapable maze that required careful navigating and constant directions from store employees. These structures were my night-time playground. I scrambled about finding a good place to kill a couple of hours. I was giddy with my legally dubious actions yet calm as this was my comfort zone. The dark made it difficult to navigate but my hands and feet flew across the dark cubes and rafters.

In the distance, I heard his voice, “really excited that they won tonight. I really should have bet on it. Darn. But I guess I didn’t know huh. Next time.” I smiled and imagined his face. My favorite nighttime security guard Elijah Freeman. I saw him once during the day. I stayed until closing for an entire week waiting for him to come to work early enough. In the end, my efforts were rewarded. But he didn’t know who I was. To him, I was only a recurring bump in the night. I have fond memories of our first conversation.

“Okay. Seriously. I know someone is there. This is the fourth strange noise tonight. Listen. At least have the courtesy to have a conversation with this old man. Fine, don’t want to speak? Make a suspicious sound. Once for yes, twice for no. Got that?”

I don’t know why I did it, fear or curiosity but I listened. *knock*

“Good. You know what you are doing is wrong right? And one of these times I’ll catch you.”

*knock*

“Could you do it twice just to confirm I’m not just hearing things?”

*knock* *knock*

He laughed a loud and boisterous laugh, “Thank you for responding. If I am hearing things, I’m hearing very intelligent things. This has made my night. I bet you’re a teenager, no adult would humor a crazy old man like this.”

*knock*

“Well, be a good kid and listen to this old man complain.” And so it went. By the time he ended the conversation I was completely wrapped up in his story and the nervous excitement from breaking the law was replaced with heartwarming comfort. It was nice listening to someone just talk; someone who cared and I could care about. As I climbed down the ladder that night I realized he could have found me at any point by tracking the noise and as he had walked further from my spot he may have been speaking just a little bit louder.

Tonight I purposely made a large sound as I approached his voice.

“Ah! Lovely, you’re here. I was just rambling on about how my sports team won last night and I regret not having faith in them. Are you doing well?”

*knock*

He laughed. “Good to hear.” I smiled. I don’t think I would ever get used to this form of communication but it was nice to chat with him. As the night went on he chatted about all manner of things, from sports to family to psychology. I was lucky enough to get this opportunity about once a week, sometimes longer or shorter based on whether I decided to come and his work shifts. One of the other two night guards knew about me but just stayed out of my way. The other one Freeman warned me about so I just went home if I forgot the shift schedule or it got changed last minute. Later that night Freeman went on his dinner break and I planned to head home. I heard him walk into the break room and use the soda machine before starting one last lap of the place. 

I was just passing the densest part of the warehouse, somewhere Freeman rarely patrols but I came to hang out when I heard a clattering. I froze. I was never careless enough to make a noise that loud. Freeman probably would have known that too but he might not have heard all the way from the breakroom.  _ Is this an actual criminal? I say that like I’m not a criminal for being here. _ I could have gone back to bring Freeman over but my curiosity won out. My eyes were accustomed to the darkness but as I climbed further down into the maze it got near impossible to see. Then I saw it. A shape moved within a shelf. I waited to see what it would do but it just sat still. 

I decided to risk calling out. “Hey,” I whispered in a stern voice. “Hey you. I know you’re there.”  _ What exactly am I planning here? _ “What are you doing here? Hey, don’t be rude.” I was starting to get annoyed and moved forward. The shape lurched out of its spot. I nearly fainted with fear but fortunately for my heart, it started running in the opposite direction.  _ At least it’s human? _ Sighing, I followed their bumps and thumps as they ran into things.

“Listen I’m not a guard. Are you stealing? Is that why you are running?”  _ But why did they hide? It’s not like they knew I was coming over to this area. _ The ‘chase’ ended spectacularly when the person face-planted onto the hard concrete floor. “Ouch. Are you okay?” They limply got up, all rebellious energy gone. I checked my watch. “Time’s up. Freeman’s break is over. I’m leaving. You have two choices. Come with me or fend for yourself. I don’t know how you got in, or why, but I’ll let you come with me if you explain.”

I don’t know why I offered to help. Maybe it was because I felt like this was my turf and I wanted them off. Or maybe I pitied the panicked way they ran. It was probably simply curiosity though.  _ This is stupid. _ I started to climb back up when I felt a small tug on my jacket. In the darkness I couldn’t see their face even though I was close enough that if I wanted to, I could lean forward and touch foreheads. I caught a whiff of cigarette smoke.  _ Strange. _ I had assumed they were younger than me, or my age at maximum. “You want to come with? Okay. Come on.” I sighed as I began to lead them up. Their head was hung with childlike shame but they follow. It was extremely difficult to lead them in the dark. Several times they slipped but I managed to prevent any fatal mistakes. Freeman’s flashlight was back to sweeping the warehouse however I knew his favored patrol path and we safely made it to the roof.

I closed the skylight behind me with a sigh of relief. “Hey. Now you talk. That was part of the deal.” Despite a little bit of moonlight, it was still near impossible to make out their face and the dark hoodie wasn’t helping. They shifted from foot to foot and even paced a little bit. “I’m not telling you how to get down from here unless you explain. I don’t want to get Freeman in trouble.”  _ They won’t stop fidgeting. They haven’t said a word… And I have this bad feeling. _ Gravel went flying. The person kicked at the gravel like it broke a sentimental toy. I was more shocked than scared. “Woah woah woah! Stop that!”  _ Wait a minute... I recognize this. _ The scene in the classroom earlier flashed through my head. “Hey. It’s okay. Woah! Why are you angry?” I risked a step forward. They didn’t seem to react so I approached.  _ How do I handle this? Do I have to? I mean it’s not my job, but… _ I thought about how to get them to stop and well, I based my actions on the event earlier that day. After a few minutes of stirring up dust they fell still. The gravel settled and silence swept across the night. 

We stood there for one heartbeat, then two, then three. Then without a word, I walked to the ladder and they followed close behind. I went down first and quietly explained the steps to get down. I reached behind the bush to recover my longboard only to hear fast footsteps fading behind me. I could have caught up if I wanted, or called out. Something held me back.  _ Tomorrow, let’s try again tomorrow. _


	3. does destroying a classroom get you suspended?

I did not want to go to school. I stared at the ceiling thinking about what I wanted to do that day. I usually do what I want regardless of the consequences. Well, I suppose it’d be wrong to say I don’t consider the consequences or receive them. I just tend to place a low priority on them, they are problems for future me. I reached around for my phone to text Lawrence. I couldn’t deny that I skipped class the most but it wasn’t like he had perfect attendance either. His absences were suspiciously concentrated around conventions or when a popular game dropped the previous day.

I was ready to ask him if he was going today or if he had anything exciting I could do. _Wasn’t there something I was supposed to tell them about? Oh, right._ Memories of the previous night flooded back to me. All the questions I had the previous night shouted to be answered; mainly who, and why. I had a pretty good idea on the first one but as much as I didn’t involve myself in other people’s business, I was curious. And they invaded my personal hideout so there was a little bit of a grudge. _Yeah, I want to figure out why she was there so it never happens again… Well, would that… be such a bad thing?_ Realizing my thought path I shook my head. _Yes, absolutely. Yes. Yes. Yes._ The ongoing chant gave me an unusual positive attitude as I got dressed, resolved to go to school that day if only to confirm things.

Albert greeted me with a smile at our usual intersection. “Ah, it’s it such a beautiful day? It feels like a crime to go sit inside a building for nine hours.”

“Ah, I do agree.” I lamented our fate. “Although. It’s not like we can’t skip.”

“Oh? Do you want to? I’ll join you.”

“Al? Agreeing to skip class? Even a whole day?” I stopped in my tracks. “Who are you and what have you done with Al?”

He walked by me laughing, “You know I’m down to skip every now and again. Your delinquent influence is too strong, I bet even the top students would fall prey to your bad habits.”

“Woah woah. What bad habits? The only things I do is skip class, not do homework, break and enter, ‘borrow’ from stores, and break a few…” I received a lopsided grin from my knowing companion. “Okay, okay, maybe more than a few rules in the handbook.”

“It’s like a bucket list to you! I wouldn’t be surprised to find out someone has a handbook with every rule you’ve broken crossed off. Hm, maybe I should start. You really are a handful.”

“Oh. Oh, maybe I am a delinquent.” I bemoaned. It’s not like I feel too bad about it, or this was the first time it had come up, but even I could have a guilty conscience. We bantered to the donut shop where we regularly purchased breakfast and continued to chat all the way to school.

“Oi. Al, Theo. You two still good for this weekend?” Lawrence was already at his desk reading when we wandered in.

“Yeah, I am. I have to ask my dads though. Jacob might give a rough time of it. But I’ll take care of it. Theo?”

I absentmindedly responded while I carefully scanned the classroom. “I’m good, it’s not like Marie would notice or care if she did.” Their chatter fell to the wayside as I made note of the organized room but clear signs of the events yesterday; a large scratch on the floor, a wobbly chair, and a missing student. _She was probably suspended. Why didn’t I think of this earlier. Of course she wouldn’t be here._

A hand waved in front of my face. “Theoooooo. Yo, you good?”

“Yeah. Just distracted.” I remained distracted throughout the rest of the day. It’s not like I normally pay attention, but today I was actually thinking about something else not just ignoring the teacher. 

The mornings at Lewis Marsh Preparatory High School, or The Marsh as termed by the less formal students, we were stuck with our homeroom class as we learned things deemed “essential for youth development” like physical education, basic information technology, financial literacy, and the like. It was certainly not exciting and the worst part about it is the teachers come to us which makes it really hard to skip class. Lunch always brought a welcome end to the morning.

“So do you think Kacey got suspended?” Lawrence was carefully munching on a bag of chips so as to not dirty the book that sat open on his desk.

Kacey’s outburst from the previous day was the talk of our class, we wouldn’t find out if other classes had heard about it until the afternoon when we had our mixed classes. _There is probably a better chance I ace the next test than this stays within our class._

Albert drew me back into the conversation, “I mean, probably right? I know Theresa tends to exaggerate things and I bet the story she went to the AP with didn’t help Kacey’s case, I doubt anything less would be handed down. Granted, I couldn’t imagine much more either.”

I glared at Theresa chatting easily with her friends on the other side of the classroom. “At least she stood up for herself, maybe this year Houston won’t have anyone to pick on.”

“Ha, I’m sure she’ll find someone. Kacey sure was scary though.” Albert shuddered. “Remind me never to make her angry. Or get near for that matter. Scratch that I remember her eyes, you won’t need to remind me.”

Lawrence didn’t look up from his book, “You’re making too much of a deal out of it, don’t be like Theresa. She probably was just having a bad day or something.” I thought back to the mysterious figure in the warehouse. _Some bad day._

“I felt bad for Ms. Parker though. She probably had to clean up after.” I looked at our definitely single, young teacher. She was slumped over at her desk picking through a salad unhappily. “How’s it Parker?” I shouted across the room.

Wearily she raised her head. “Theodore, Ms. Parker. It’s going fine. Just fine.”

I wandered up to the front. “Come on now, don’t be like that. Something was bothering you yesterday, and now something is today. Is it the same thing? Or maybe it’s just the salad, nobody likes salad.” I pointedly popped a mint in my mouth. She hurriedly shoved a forkful of greens into her mouth. She started talking before realizing her mouth was full. 

Blushing she covered her mouth and chewed her food. “I like salad just fine thank you very much. And if you must know, it is the same thing but yesterday didn’t help either.”

“Yesterday? Oh, you mean at the end of the day.”

“Yes. I know it’s rude and your teacher shouldn’t be thinking like this but I was hoping that maybe that girl wasn’t going to show up all year. I don’t need more sources of stress in my homeroom.”

I ignored a pointed glare. “You speak like you knew something like that would happen.”

“I mean, there were rumors from other teachers. She… isn’t the easiest student to deal with. She left her previous school on bad terms. Looks like she wants to start her time at this one similarly.”

I grinned with excitement, “What did she do that was so bad?”

“She… I have said too much to you. You are a siren with the way you weave your words. The issues in my personal life must have lowered my guard.” _I mean I didn’t say much. And to be fair your guard is always lowered._

“Oh issues in your personal life? Oh it must be rough, please feel free to share.”

Ms. Parker glared at me again. “No. Go. Shoo. I’m eating my lunch.” She shoved another forkful into her mouth and looked away, clearly ending the conversation. I sighed and returned to my seat.

As it turns out, the rest of the school did know about Kacey’s outburst, although there were several different versions.

“I heard she slammed her fist on her desk and shouted obscene words at Theresa.”

“No no, she didn’t say a word. She just pointed a pencil at Theresa's throat and her glare was enough to send a message.”

“There was no way it was that tame. I bet she sent her pencil straight through Theresa’s hand!” This one I saw accompanied by hand motions. I just shook my head. There were two clear impacts from the rumors, none of the popular students were going to bother her and everyone was scared of her. _I guess that’s one way to make a reputation on day one_.

The rumors ebbed and flowed the rest of the week. I even got some whispers of teacher rumors from an errand to the teacher’s office.

“I knew this would happen. We were lucky we got a week until that demon showed up.”

“How is she not expelled? Surely there is enough past precedent to have gotten her blacklisted. A second chance? Sure, but she clearly isn’t changing.” My ears perked up at the words ‘past precedent’. _So that is a regular occurrence for her. No wonder she had to switch schools._

“Theo? The papers Ms. Parker needed.”

“Oh. Right. Thanks Mr. Michaelson.”


	4. what is love?

The weekend came not a day too soon. After stopping at my house to feed Pharra and grab my overnight bag I went back across town to Lawerence’s house. Out of the three of us, Lawrence’s family situation was the most average. I don’t use the word normal because I doubt average is normal when it comes to families. 

“Don’t stay up too late you three. Your sister has practice in the morning so don’t wake her. And remember your promise for the next test. I expect 75 or better, and so does your dad.”

“Yes, yes, I know Mom.” They were strict but not overly like Albert’s, I doubt his would let us sleepover and play games all night. Marie probably wouldn’t care but I wanted to avoid the awkwardness of asking her. Lawrence’s parents were happy to have us over as long as we weren’t being a bad influence, which I could manage.

As we lounged around casually playing games we chatted about a variety of topics starting with the convention next week. Keyboard & Mouse Convention, or KM-Con, was a big event in our area that moved annually between a couple of towns. This year we were lucky it was local, but even when it wasn’t Lawerence would manage to make it. Some years Albert and I would tag along. This once a year event was sponsored by multiple big corporations and hosted a large variety of activities. People came to buy anime merchandise, play the latest games, and see any recent developments in technology. It was the highlight of Lawerence’s year. 

“I’m lucky I bought my ticket when I did. The exclusives ran out less than an hour after. I’ll get a whole extra day to explore.”

“It’s just the setup day though right? That’s not much to get excited about.”

“Theo. Behind the scenes is the best part! Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it. You two are coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday though right?”

“Yeah, I can make it Friday and Saturday but I have plans for Sunday evening so I didn’t buy a three-day ticket.”

Lawrence pouted at this new information, “Al. What could you possibly have… No. Stop, I already know. Your precious internship right?”

“No, actually. My fathers are planning to drag me to one of their literary conferences. So I guess I wasn’t quite accurate when I said ‘I have plans’, it’s more like ‘someone has plans for me’.” He seemed genuinely annoyed at this.

“Ah, that’s too bad. You couldn’t say there is this uber important, once a year event that you have been planning for since July?”

“You mean you’ve been planning for? And no. Not with them I can’t. It’s like when my desires conflict with theirs my words go in one ear and out another.” Albert’s eyes unfocused a bit and he tilted his head. With a little shake he restarted the conversation. “What about you Theo?”

“Well, I have nothing better to do. And there is this new game that’s supposedly showcasing at the event. I’m kind of curious about the gameplay, specifically…” The later we got the weirder the conversations got. As usual when draining conversation topics, crushes, or love, came up.

“Al. Do you have eyes on a girl at the moment?” He nervously avoided my gaze. “Okay, let me rephrase that. Is there any girl you aren’t aggressively scared of at the moment.” To that he only hid his face further. “I’ll take that as a no. We need to get you out there. Maybe one of the girls at the convention will be just shy enough to not smother you with feminine wiles.”

I got a chuckle out of Lawrence for that one. “Come Al. With your intellect and looks you could get anyone you wanted. You just have to ask! I bet even Ms. Fox wouldn’t be able to resist your masculine energy.” Ms. Fox, or Valeria Fox, was widely considered the top student in our grade. She was the exact opposite of me with model grades and behavior yet somehow we ended up in a class together. I suppose it would be unfair to call it a complete surprise. I placed fairly high in Communications so I ended up in one of the higher classes for it despite being only slightly above the middle for the rest. The only reason Communications clicked was because I didn’t have to try to do well, I suppose if I got into average classes not trying I could do fairly well if I did try.

“Oh no no no. She is far too pretty and smart for me.”

“Oh you like them ugly and dumb?”

“Noooo, that’s not what I mean.” He complained while we laughed at him. “She is just so far out of my league.”

“What do you mean? You regularly have conversations with her and probably share similar interests. At the very least you two could study together. I mean at least with her your achievements and intellect will probably take care of a lot of the effort for you.” 

Albert sighed and lay back on the floor. “Why is romance so scary yet so appealing.”

Lawrence and I looked at each other and spoke simultaneously, “It’s not.”

“Huh? Scary or appealing.”

Lawrence laughed, “Both. There isn’t anything to be afraid of. What’s the worst that could happen, rejection?” 

Albert’s face turned white which made me laugh even harder. “And appealing? What’s there appealing about dating someone? It just eats time away from your day that could be better spent…” I ducked and dodged out of a tough situation in the game. “Powning noobs. Or in this case zombies.” I smirked with satisfaction.

“You! You guys are a crime! Rejection is scary! Laying your heart out in front of someone and hoping… no needing them to accept it is terrifying! What would you do if they don’t? You can’t just change how you feel. It only adds to the pain to know they don’t feel the same and probably never will… And of course it’s appealing! Someone who cares about you not out of necessity but desire? Romance makes your heart race and body shake with nervous excitement. Spending time around the person regardless of activity just makes you happy. Or doing things to add happiness to their life! Making someone you love smile is the best thing in the world. That happiness is what it’s all about.”

Lawrence paused the game and looked at me with a deadpan expression. “Theo. Spending time with you makes me happy, this must be love. I love you.”

I return the look, “El, I don’t really like going to certain events with you but it makes you happy, this must be love. I love you.”

Albert wailed. “Guys! Stop! That’s not what I meant.” We burst out laughing. “That’s not.. You don’t understand. Love and romance is essential to high school life!” Albert kept talking but we couldn’t hear over our laughter. Tears of laughter started rolling down Lawerence’s face and I couldn’t help but clutch my stomach.

“You. You heard that? A racing heart? Imagine an organ losing control over another human being.”

“And… And rejection is scary? Imagine being scared of someone telling you no. I mean, I suppose I get your parent’s rejecting you, but choosing someone then getting upset when they don’t choose you? That’s ridiculous. That’s dumb.” Our laughter quieted down when Lawrence’s younger sister sleepily knocked on the door and politely asked us to keep it down. Amidst our silent shaking, Albert was angrily muttering to himself about the apathy of young adults these days.

I sighed, “If I ever fall in love feel free to slap me across the face. There is no way I’d do something as silly as that.”

“Me too, although don’t slap me. You can laugh at me though.”

“Speaking of love, you two. I think that’s what’s up with Ms. Parker.”

This got my attention, “Wait really? How do you know?” This was big news. Our teacher who seemed like she’d stay single until she died had finally managed to get her long desired boyfriend?

“Well, I don’t know for sure. She looks at her phone a lot more often now and gets all smiley occasionally. I bet she is waiting for a text from her lover.”

Lawrence was skeptical, “Well she could have a family member in the hospital or be waiting for details on a new release.”

“El, I doubt she cares about the latest video games or manga. But I’m telling you! It’s a look of a smitten damsel! She is in love, I guarantee it. Granted I don’t expect either of you two to be able to tell.” Albert stuck his nose up.

“I don’t believe it, but I can’t just ignore the possibility of big news like this. I’ll have to investigate.” The games continued late into the night and the conversations even longer. I really enjoyed just laying back and chatting with Albert and Lawrence. It didn’t even have to be about anything specific. It was one of my favorite ways to kill time. Eventually we all dozed off until well past sunrise the next day.

I went back to my house mid afternoon and to my surprise Marie was home.

“Marie, I’m home.”

“Theodore.”  _ Well, at least she acknowledged me. _ I quickly glanced around the kitchen and living room to make sure she didn’t leave a mess anywhere. For all I could tell she went straight to her office, which doubled as her bedroom, and didn’t even step foot in the rest of the house.  _ I mean, she isn’t overbearing? Or have any other overtly negative traits? _ I slipped into my room and went on my computer. It was kinda pointless to leave Lawrence’s house because the three of us were planning to play video games again today. However, to be fair there is comfort and flexibility in being physically separated from your buddies.


	5. can the Tiger bark?

Sunday wasn’t very exciting, amounting only to six more hours in a video game, another book read, and more forums browsed. As I lay in bed thinking about whether to go to school tomorrow Albert’s thoughts about love floated through my mind.  _ Spending time with them just makes you happy? Yeah, I guess I could always use more people like that. _ But I was still confused about what the ‘romance’ and ‘love’ he was talking about.  _ What is it? Have I experienced it? Will I ever? _ Speaking of love, I decided to go to school the next day to interrogate Ms. Parker about her lover. Oh, and there was Kacey. It’s not like I wanted to be curious, but I was. I don’t know if I’d ever admit that it was so prevalent in my mind, but it was.

The atmosphere during morning homeroom was relaxed until she walked in. I was sitting with my feet up trying to keep the homework I didn’t do out of my mind not paying attention to anyone when the classroom dropped into silence. I quietly moved my feet and looked toward the front of the room.  _ She’s just as beautiful as I remember. _ Before I could register my thoughts her gaze swept the room. Any remaining hushed whisper was quickly smothered.

Ms. Parker broke the silence, “Um. Welcome back Kacey. I hope… Uh… I hope we can have a wonderful and loving day today.” She tried to smile but faltered when Kacey turned to look at her.  _ How can a person have such a fearsome glare? I’ve never met or even seen someone with such an oppressive aura. _ The first time the class had met her it was scary but easy to write off as an anomaly. But this time no such mistake would be made.

Ms. Parker commendably carried out homeroom but unfortunately for the poor woman she was in charge of financial literacy which was the first of the two ‘universal education’ classes we had today. Throughout morning I kept finding my gaze drifting back to Kacey. She wasn’t doing anything particularly interesting, just sitting there awkwardly shifting from time to time and staring out the window, but for some reason I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her.  _ Wow. _ Well, until she turned to gaze over the class like it was her domain. I ducked away from those fearsome eyes.

Even Ms. Parker retreated when assaulted by the full attention of Kacey. Several times she tried to call on her to answer a question and would only be answered by a glare. The first two times she awkwardly redirected the question and she aborted the third attempt before getting too far.  _ Is she not going to participate? It’s not like I want to either though. _ I begrudgingly answered one of Ms. Parker’s questions.

The next morning class was ‘societal norms’ which was a big joke. Unfortunately the teacher, Ms. Henderson, didn’t agree and wholeheartedly produced complete lesson plans that maximized time usage. We ended up in groups but it didn’t seem like Kacey helped much in hers. Every time I looked over she was sitting back from the rest saying nothing and clearly not paying much attention. Finally lunch arrived.

“Okay. You keep looking at Kacey. Theo?”

“What? No I don’t.”

Albert piled on, “You. You were literally just looking at her. While you’ve been watching her, I’ve been watching you all morning and you haven’t noticed a thing.”

I grumbled about noisy people, “I’m just curious alright?”

“Curious about…?”

“Oh. Right, I didn’t tell you two about Tuesday night.” In hushed voices I recounted the encounter last week.

“So Kacey was in your super secret warehouse?”

“A. It’s not my super secret warehouse and B. I’m not even sure it was her. It just feels like too much of a coincidence for her just to show up here and then someone with a similar temper to appear there the same day.”

“Okay, but you want to know for sure right? And probably why as well?”

“How do you know that?”

“Because you’re curious,” Albert laughed. “Go ask her if now.” I looked at Kacey sitting by herself picking at her lunch. I even got up and started to walk over. Maybe if she had stayed turned around I could have made it all the way there. She turned to look at me and her eyes bored into me. It felt like she was staring into my very soul, picking it apart and ruthlessly judging every aspect of it.  _ Nope. Not happening. _ I noped my way back to my seat while Albert and Lawrence stifled laughter.  _ Okay, later then. _ I was not planning on letting this defeat me.

As it turned out, Kacey and I shared a science class together. So far the class consisted mostly of lecture so participation was few and far between, practically unnecessary. This seemed to suit her and it certainly suited me. We both receded into our own thoughts neglecting the teacher in front of us. For my part I was trying to figure out how to approach her and how to ask what I wanted to know.

I was shocked again when I found out she also shared math class with myself, Lawrence, and Albert. The class went by normally until Lawrence started prodding me during moving time after class to go talk to her. It was just the four of us in the room waiting for afternoon homeroom to start so it seemed to be an opportune time to approach. But I didn’t. Lawrence rolled his eyes at me when the other students started wandering in.

“Okay. You missed your best chance. But at least find out about Ms. Parker’s romantic situation for us will you?”

“Yeah sure. Okay yeah.” Once I got the chance I headed up to the front.

I figured ‘be bold’ and opened aggressively, “So Ms. Parker, are you single?”

She raised her hand to her chest and rapidly looked around to see if anyone was listening, “Theodore! You can’t ask that!”

“Hm. Well it seems like I just did.”

Ms. Parker could only sigh and put her head in her hands. “I don’t have to tell you. This is none of your business.”

“But you coouuld tell me. I’m sure it’d make you feel better about the whole thing. Maybe I even have some advice.”

She looked up at me with a disapproving look, “There is no way someone so young as you has enough experience to give me advice on romance.”

“Ah ha! So it is romance!” I leaned forward on the desk.

She groaned in frustration. “No. Stop this. Fine. I’m single alright. I’m single and I’m happy about it.”

“Oh you know I don’t believe that last part.”

“Theo, how do teachers put up with you?”

“They don’t. Only you Ms. Parker, only you.” I smirked as I left behind the defeated bachelorette.

I kept my eye on Kacey as homeroom ended and we all headed out. She seemed to lag behind so I stalled at my locker. She was taking so long that the hallway began to empty by the time she came out of the classroom.

“Theo, why are you taking so…” Lawrence followed my gaze, “Oh. Albert, let’s go ahead shall we?” He dragged away a confused Albert.  _ Whew. Okay. You got this. _ I felt like I was approaching a hungry tiger. Fortunately I came from the direction her locker opened so she wouldn’t get much of an advance warning. 

“Hey.” She froze. I tried again. “Hey Kacey. There is uh. Something I wanted to ask you.”  _ This conversation is going poorly but much better than I expected. Probably because I can’t see her face. _ “I wanted to ask you if you happened to be at Orange Crate last night.” No response. “You know, the uh, local wholesale store?” No response. “It’s the big warehouse building in town.” No response. “Were you there, like after hours?” Still no response. Instead of backing down, the longer the conversation went on the more I needed a response. So when she slowly shut her locker door and turned to face me, I didn’t budge. I probably shrunk back a bit, but I didn’t budge. 

“Hey, listen. I’d really appreciate it if you gave me an answer. Especially since… I was the one there with you. I may have backed down a week ago and I might today, but I’ll come back. It’s probably easier to just answer me now then I won’t bother you anymore.” After a moment her mouth seemed to twitch. It opened slightly before clamping back shut. _What weird behavior._ _There is also a strange look about her._ I started looking more intently at her eyes. 

That’s when I felt it for the third time, that bad feeling. I was almost able to call out before her fist slammed into her locker.  _ Ouch. _ I winced. The few remaining students in the hallway froze to see what would happen next. Head down, she slowly lowered her arm. For the time being it seemed that one punch released all her anger, or maybe it was just a scare tactic. I appraised the locker.  _ Hm. That is a reasonably sized dent. I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that one. _ I turned back to her to notice drops of blood falling to the floor.

“Uh. You good? You’ve got uh.” I awkwardly gestured to my own hand. She didn’t budge. “Are you going to go to the…” I stopped mid-sentence realizing it was futile to ask a question I wasn’t going to get an answer to. “Come on.” I ushered the girl towards the nurses office. I was surprised when she obediently let me lead her. 

On the way I texted Lawrence about my detour and suggested they go ahead. He replied with a thumbs up. While I had my phone out I felt Kacey look up and glance at me several times but I didn’t look back or say anything. Mostly because I didn’t know what to say at this point. Mr. Gonzalez was an understanding man and didn’t ask many questions when Kacey showed up with an injured hand. 

“I’m going to go write this up. Please stay right here, I’ll be right back.” We sat in silence for a minute before I finally worked up the courage to ask another question.  _ It seems like all I have is questions for this girl. _

“Um. So, could you explain something? I mean, anything? I know that you probably don’t really want to. But I’d really appreciate an explanation of any kind." She fidgeted around and kept staring at the floor. _Not much of an answer._ _It’s hard to understand this girl. I’m surprised anyone does. Well, maybe nobody does. I can’t imagine having no one in the world understand you._ I thought back to Marie and was suddenly extremely glad to have Albert and Lawrence. _Being so isolated would be frustrating, it’d make me angry. Angry enough to punch a locker?_ _Okay. But why can’t anyone understand her. Well she doesn’t… She doesn’t talk. Oh. Maybe..._

“Hey. Kacey? Can you not… Were you born mute?” She slowly looked up and gave me her signature glare but for some reason it didn’t bother me. “It would explain a lot.”  _ Well, not quite. If she really was born mute I’m sure we’d know to some degree, or at least the teachers would. But it seems like no one knows… Or no one cares.  _ I shuddered at that last part.  _ So it’s probably not a physical issue. So mental? _ “You weren’t born mute were you.” Kacey closed her eyes and sighed.  _ No denial? Right track then? So why?  _ I racked my brain but quickly realized I was severely underqualified to put together all the pieces myself.  _ Well she probably knows… Okay that’s kinda silly, look at her.  _

I looked at her again, without the tinted lens of my first impression and tried again to judge her based on solely what I saw before me. What I saw before me was not the Kacey I’d come to know. When she opened her eyes I saw none of the ferocity that normally resided there.  _ Without her harsh glare or a violent outburst she’s actually kinda cute. _ I quickly slammed the door shut on that train of thought. Her eyes held this kind of softness that ran directly counter to her apparent demeaner.  _ No, maybe parallel. I think I can still see the ferocity, it’s just a lot more tame. _ She seemed lost and the constant squirming could be nervousness.  _ Yeah, she obviously doesn’t have it all put together. _

Then I asked a question I would have never thought to ask to the Kacey I had seen last week, “Are you okay with this?” She gave me a doleful look. After a few moments a tear slipped out. Then another.  _ Oh. Uh oh. _ I looked helplessly at the girl silently crying in front of me. I couldn’t sit there awkwardly so I pulled her into a soft hug. I was surprised by how comfortable I was. Physical contact isn’t something I got a lot so it was generally off putting but…  _ I could stay here forever. _ I closed my eyes. I’m not sure how long we sat there for but slowly she stilled and her tears dried. 

Eventually, Mr. Gonzalez came back in. “Sorry that took me so long. Another matter came up suddenly.” He began talking Kacey through taking care of her hand. If he noticed her damp cheeks or odd demoner he didn’t say anything and with a brief farewell he made his exit.

“Do you mind if I walk you home?”  _ I’d feel really bad if I didn’t. _ I patiently waited for a response. After a moment she stood up and walked to the door. She looked back at me expectantly.  _ Okay, maybe I can understand you. _

We walked in silence towards the primary suburban district for The Marsh. While not expensive by any means these families were certainly well off, which match the student demographic fairly well. We approached an unassuming two-story house halfway down the block. I couldn’t pick out a single defining characteristic; it was that average.  _ I guess that’s a characteristic in it’s own _ .

Kacey walked up to the front door and knocked.  _ What person knocks to their own house? _ She turned to face me and gave a short bow before returning her gaze to the door.  _ That’s my cue? _ I started to walk away but didn’t get very far before my curiosity got the better of me.  _ I mean it’s just bad manners to not make sure the person gets inside, right? _ However, when I turned around to look, Kacey was gone. I felt a bit too awkward to double check so I reluctantly went home. 


	6. young adults don't have serious health issues right?

I was surprised to find Marie home. _I mean it’s not too late. Or early for that matter._

“Theodore. You’re home.”

“Yes. How was your day Marie?”

“Fine. And yours?”

“Swell. Thanks for asking.”

“I’ve gone on a diet recently so I’ve adjusted the shopping list. Don’t be surprised.”

“I’m going shopping Thursday, as usual. I’ll make sure to follow the list.” That seemed to be enough conversation so I slipped out to my room. I tended to Pharra and my plants. Despite being relegated to a small windowsill, my plants were one of my favorite things. I don’t know, maybe it had to do with having something that needed me in the world. _That’s too deep for me. But it is nice to have something to care for… And it would probably be nice to have someone care for me._ I cringed at my own angst and focused on something else. My train of thought meandered back to the track it seemed to frequent most the past couple of days, Kacey. No matter how hard I thought, I was still curious and confused. Frustrated, I opened a textbook to help distract myself. _Ugh. How intrusive are thoughts that I’m turning to a textbook?_ A bit later I saw Lawerence online.

“Hey. El. Would you believe it if I told you I had our biology book open right now?”

“No. What’s your favorite mint brand?”

I stifled a giggle. “Anything strong enough to make your grandma cough.”

“Hm. So it is you. I guess I have no choice but to believe it.”

Looking to get my thoughts away from chemistry, I asked a question I already knew the answer to, “Are you excited for KM-Con?” 

“Absolutely. They are releasing new information every day on what’ll be there…” Lawrence continued to ramble about the exciting stuff. _I doubt he’ll stop even after the event is over._ A little while Albert came on and pestered me to do some of my homework. I relented but my heart just wasn’t in it, a face kept floating across my vision.

“Theo, you good?”

“Uh. Yeah. Sorry, I’m just distracted. I’m going head off for the night. See you tomorrow.” Determined to clear my mind I shut off my computer, grabbed my longboard, and slipped out the door. Fall nights are my favorite. The cool breeze is enough to warrant a jacket but it’s not bitterly cold. _It’s even decently bright out tonight._ I rolled up to Orange Crate and climbed the ladder. Unfortunately Freeman wasn’t on schedule but the troublesome guard wasn’t there so as long as I stayed silent I wouldn’t have any issues. I slipped in and crept to a spot where I could see the stars through a skylight. 

I worked to purge my thoughts. It’s no good to hold on to long past things, it’s better to focus on the here and now. If something reenters my thoughts it’s obviously important enough to stay, but I’m careful about it. Just as I was feeling the satisfaction of a clear mind my vision started to blur. _I’m falling asleep._ I do tend to be sleepier than Albert or Lawrence and I even fall asleep in class. _Alright, I guess that’s my cue to get up and go home._ I tried to rub my eyes but my arm felt heavy and moved sluggishly. _Huh?_ I tried to sit up. I got halfway there before the world fell away.

My chest hurt. Really bad. I opened my eyes to the same starlit skylight I went unconscious underneath. I was out of breath and… _Ow._ The only thing I could do was lay there and take it. I watched the stars move as I regained my strength. It was hard to tell how much time passed but eventually the pain dissipated. 

_What in the world?_ I managed to sit up. My surroundings seemed normal. I crept back up to the roof with any issues. I’d hate to admit it but I was scared. As quick as I could I retreated to my house. Before I realized it I was in my bed tucked under my covers. _No way am I going to school tomorrow._


	7. how is the Tiger?

“You’re coming to school today right?” Lawrence’s text glared at me from my lockscreen.

“No way.”

The madman called me like the annoying character he was.  _ There is no point in not answering him. _

“Yes?”

“What? How are we supposed to hear about what happened with Kace?” I thought about it. I seriously thought about it; until my head started to hurt.

Groaning, I made a decision, “Nothing happened, at least nothing of note or nothing I’m telling you.”

“What?!?” An incredulous response nearly blew out my eardrum.

“Stooop, it’s early.” I complained. “Ugh, it’s complicated. I promise I’ll tell you when I figure it out.”

“Figure what out? Okay, I won’t pry. I’m not like you or Albert. Speak of the devil, he won’t take ‘I’m not telling you’ as an answer. You better come up with something before you see him.”

“Okay. Alright. Listen, thanks…” Lawrence’s words reminded me of the ‘nothing of note’ that happened yesterday. _ Fine. Fine, I’ll go. _ It’s not like I could not wonder how Kacey was going after the state she was in yesterday.  _ She might not even go today.. But what if she does? _ “Actually, I’m going today. See you in a bit.” I hung up on him halfway through his response.

“Really? That’s all? If it was really that boring I feel like you would have done something to liven it up.” Albert glared at me as we walked to school. Luckily I managed to scrape together a believable situation that didn’t offer a lot of opportunities for interesting questions. I simply shrugged back and let the conversation die.

Lawrence gave me a look as we entered the classroom but didn’t broach the subject. As keen as he is, he respects private matters and doesn’t look too far into things. Albert on the other hand, tried me a couple more times in homeroom before giving up. I anxiously awaited Kacey’s arrival but it never came. Once it was clear she wasn’t coming I began to regret my decision to attend today. Of course, my thoughts drifted towards her.

My scattered brain was so obvious that even Ms. Parker caught on. During moving time for afternoon homeroom she called me up to her desk.

“Theo. What’s going on?”

“Huh?”

She gave me a disapproving look. “You haven’t been paying attention. Which I suppose isn’t unusual in itself.” She shushed my protest. “But you haven’t even been keeping up your… lively personality.”

“Ms. Parker? It’s not like you to have noticed.”

“Oh. Well I suppose not. Mr. Gonzalez came to talk to me yesterday. He was curious about an injury a student from my homeroom received.” 

I guiltily averted my gaze. “And what would I know about that?”

“A whole lot according to Mr. Gonzalez, you brought her in.”

“Okay. Maybe I know a thing or two… Okay, Kacey had a small fit by her locker and used it to relieve some stress. I may have incited it a bit. But I promise it wasn’t intentional! I even took her to Mr. Gonzalez and walked her home after!”

“Are you worried about her?”

_ Am I? _ “I… Um…”  _ I’m not comfortable with yes, but saying no isn’t quite true. _

Ms. Parker smiled, clearly jumping a few steps ahead. “Aw. I’m glad. You’re a good kid Theo. You should go check on her since she didn’t come today. I’m worried too, you know. Even though she has only been in class for two days, she is still my student.” By the time I figured out what she was asking me to do she was shooing me back to my seat and starting homeroom.

_ Did I just get asked to go check on Kacey? _ I made my way back to my seat and brushed aside any invading questions from Albert. I managed to forget about everything for our after school trip to the pretzel stand at the mall. However once Albert left for his internship and Lawrence got on the train home, I had a challenging decision to make. 

_ Ugh. I want to know. I mean, it’s not like I don’t know where her house is. And Ms. Parker asked me to check on her. I guess not directly, but I’d feel bad ignoring a request from Ms. Parker. It’s not like I’m doing anything anyways. I don’t really have enough of an excuse not to go... _ Armed with enough reasons I traced our steps from yesterday. I approached the plain brown door with as much apprehension as a gazelle to a lion. Somehow I managed to knock on the door.

A moment later a voice called out. “Coming!” An extraordinarily average woman in an apron stood before me.

I struggled to get the words out. “Good afternoon. My name is Theodore Richardson.” I even added a slight bow.

“Good afternoon Theo, my name is Ms. Crowflower. What can I do for you?”

_ Theo?!? And Crowflower? What was Kacey’s last name? Crowflower doesn’t sound right.  _ “Um.” I couldn’t help but squirm.  _ This is so awkward! _ “Does Kacey live here?” Somehow this question made the atmosphere even more uncomfortable.

Ms. Crowflower looked away. “Yes. I suppose she does.”

_ What was that? Why does she sound regretful?  _ With all my past experience I could see messes before they were made but here I found myself with one foot already in this quagmire. “Ms. Parker, her… our, homeroom teacher asked me to come check on her.” Ms. Crowflower sighed and motioned for me to come inside. I obediently followed her into the house.

Despite the slightly larger size there were clear attempts to make the place homely.  _ Plants! _ I couldn’t help but walk over and take a look at the little potted plants dotted throughout the large entrance hall.

Ms. Crowflower noticed. “You like plants Theo?”

“Yes ma’am. I’ve always dreamed about having a vegetable garden or even a fruit tree.”  _ Ah. But those are all far away fantasies. _

She turned around with a slight smile on her face. “I’ll have to show you out back some time then.”

_ Wait really?  _ I was so excited by the horticulture I almost forgot why I was here. “Ah, it’ll have to be some other time.” I cringed.  _ That makes it sound like I’m planning to come again! _

“Is that a promise then? I’d be excited to have you.”

_ What?!? Where is this conversation going? Forget it. _ Heading further into the house, I began to smell the warm whiffs of dinner. I didn’t eat well today for various reasons so I was hungrier earlier. Unfortunately I don’t think Marie had ever turned on a stove so our cooking was limited to what I managed to scrape together. The thought of home cooking nearly made my stomach rumble.

“Wyatt? There is a girl here from school. She’s here to check on… her.” 

My brain fizzled out at that comment.  _ Huh?!? Something is up here. I’m uneasy.  _ A small alarm started going off in my head.  _ She seems like a nice lady but what exactly am I walking into? _

“Can you see if she is here? I’ll have our visitor wait in the kitchen.”

A soft male voice called out from an adjacent room. “Yes dear.” A short lanky man wandered into the foyer. He had dark hair and thick rimmed glasses. I glanced from the brown haired woman to the dark haired man.  _ Something is definitely up here. But this atmosphere does not seem to be one I want to go poking around in. _

I followed Ms. Crowflower to the kitchen where a pot sat on the stove and vegetables were out on a cutting board. “I apologize, but if you don’t mind I will keep cooking while we wait.” Five minutes passed but I couldn’t bring myself to start small talk. 

Eventually, Wyatt, presumably Mr. Crowflower, walked in. “I don’t know if she is in. If she is, she didn’t respond.”

_ If she is in? The way they phrase things around her makes her out to be a strange housemate, not a daughter. So what is she to them? _

“Sorry, Theo. We won’t ask you to stay longer than you have to but would you like to stay for dinner? There is a chance she shows up in the meantime.”

_ Oh heck no.  _ I gave an awkward laugh. “Sorry, maybe next time. I’d best be going.”

“Oh that’s too bad. Will you stop by tomorrow?”

I wasn’t ready for that fastball of a question. “Uh. Maybe? We’ll see.”

“In that case, please stop by again.” Ms. Crowflower smiled then walked me to the door. “I’m glad someone came by. Sometimes it’s hard to tell you know?” I found myself thanking her and walking away before I could ask what she meant by that.

_ What just happened??? _


	8. how do you answer questions you don't know how to ask?

I woke up exhausted. I played video games late into the night just to keep my mind away from the events of yesterday. I don’t typically struggle with a cluttered mind, I don’t really have thoughts I fight to avoid.  _ Kacey’s an exception. _

Even though ignoring school to play video games was probably the better solution, I knew from experience, I found myself dressed and on the way to school.

Albert was back to his nosey ways. “Say Theo, what was up yesterday. You refused to tell us anything. You wouldn’t even give me the time of day.” I decided to come clean. Well, at least about parts of it. I told the two about the locker incident and how I was ‘worried’ about her. I seeped as much sarcasm as I could into that part. The events at the Crowflower household were conveniently left out.

“Ah so this is another of Theo’s curiosity escapades.”

“What? No, don’t get started on this!”

“Oh you know, right Albert? It’s like the politician arc she went on.”

“Or the public park bill she tried to pass?”

“Don’t forget about the time when she went to the Discovery Center every day.” I couldn’t help but sigh and half agree with them. They were referencing several times when a topic piqued my curiosity and I became obsessive over it. Obsessive makes it sound like a bad thing, and in some instances it was but the two were tactful enough to avoid bringing those up. 

While I suffered teasing throughout the rest of homeroom, neither was particularly harsh about it or pursued more information. We had an odd agreement to not ask too many questions about each other, especially regarding private life. Topics were only greenlit when the person themself brought it up. 

As I expected, Ms. Parker called me over during the brief time before afternoon homeroom. “Theodore. Do you have a second?”

“Yeah, Parker.” She rolled her eyes at my jab but hid a small smile.

“Ms. Parker, I see someone is back to normal. Did you stop by Ms. Callaghan's?”

“Yes Ma’am.”  _ Callaghan?  _ “However I have some difficulties comprehending the situation. Could you help me understand it a bit better?” I slipped smoothly into a more elaborate speech pattern.  _ She’s got to know something. _

Ms. Parker looked away and pursed her lips. “I don’t know…”

“I’m only trying to help. I’d like to understand her better.” Only after the words came out did I realize how they sounded. I mentally cradled my head and cringed from embarrassment.  _ I don’t actually feel that way. I just meant… I guess I don’t really know what I meant. _

Apparently Ms. Parker didn’t even notice, she caved before I could stammer out an excuse. “Difficulties? I can’t say I’m surprised. There are a lot of bad rumors about her. The worst part is more than a few are true. I may struggle to get you to regularly pass tests but at least you show up for them. I don’t know. I guess the more lost someone seems the more I want to help them find their way. It may be naive and improper of me to try, but I can’t help it. Sorry for getting you involved but I couldn’t not ask, especially since it’s you.”

For a second I just blinked.  _ What? First off, it seems like she thought ‘difficulties’ was referring to her asking me to check on Kacey. She thought I was confused why she was concerned. I mean, I was, but that’s not what I was asking about. Second, yes its naive and improper of you to try to help everyone but you’re Ms. Parker, you wouldn’t be if you didn’t. And third,  _ “Especially since it’s you? Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

She didn’t seem taken aback by my rudeness in the slightest. “Many others, like Lawrence for example,” I looked over to my friends who were ‘inconspicuously’ watching us although I doubt they could hear. “He would have accepted my request but not looked much deeper than the surface. Whenever you get involved with anything, how do I say this? Things just work out?” 

_ Ms. Parker? Philosophical? _

“With things like this. As a teacher I can only get so involved. I doubt any other student would take initiative here like you would. That’s why I had to ask. That’s why I have to ask. Would you please?” She turned back to look me in the eyes. There was a weary expression there. She could only do so much but she wanted to do more, so she turned to me.

Warning bells rang in my head while brain cells prepared to abandon ship.  _ Between Ms. Crowflower and Ms. Parker, there is definitely something wrong here. Something very wrong. Oh. And Kacey herself. _ I couldn’t believe I forgot the event in the infirmary that started this chain of events and my unique interaction with the person in question there.  _ All three people are acting so strange! They all know stuff I don’t and that ticks me off. I don't know what to do. What should I do? I guess there is only one way forward. _ “Ms. Parker, what would you like me to do?”

Ms. Parker’s weary expression faded as she cocked her head in an all too innocent manner. “What? You don’t know? I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’ve never needed help before to get into trouble. Now go take your seat, homeroom is starting.”

_ Get into trouble?  _ My head was starting to hurt with all the insinuations and implications of the conversation. Luckily my scowl was enough to prevent Albert from asking too many questions as I slid back into my seat.

It took all of homeroom and a bowl of ramen to decide what to do next. Albert had left for his internship but Lawrence didn’t have anything better to do so he had stuck around.

“What are you thinking about?”

“What do you mean?” Lawrence was usually pretty good at reading people. Given our lengthy friendship I was probably one of the easier people for him.

“I mean, you have to be thinking about her.”

I stammered and pretended to not know the answer to the pronoun game. “Her?”

“Yes, her.” He rolled his eyes. “Stop being evasive, are you going to make me say her name?” I don’t know why that thought made me so uncomfortable but I had to look away so he didn’t see my face.

In the end, anything other than conceding would have made things worse. “Okay, yes. I have been thinking about… her. Please don’t tell Albert, he’ll take it the wrong way and then I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Fine, but in exchange you have to tell me something.”

I grumbled compliance.  _ How do I explain stuff I don’t even fully understand? _ We sat in silence for a minute.

“And? Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Anything, something. I know you don’t want to, but I appreciate something to help me understand.”

“Understand? Yeah that’s all I want too.” I groaned and put my forehead on the table. “Everyone is speaking in ciphers and I don’t know why. I poked my nose in and now I’m lost.”

Lawrence didn’t respond immediately. “What do you mean speaking in ciphers? By that I mean, who? And why? It’s also not like you to get discouraged by something that simple.”

“I know. I don’t get why it discourages me. Maybe it’s because all their phrasing feels so ominous. As for who, Ms. Parker is probably the most confusing one. Kacey is up there too.”

He sat forward, eyes wide. “Wait, you talked to Kacey?”

“More like I monologued and she listened.” I laughed sourly.

“If she didn’t talk back how could she have ‘spoken in ciphers’?”

I cursed mentally.  _ That was a slip up. I should’ve left out Kacey, like I omitted Ms. Crowflower. I don’t want to explain to him my thoughts on Kacey’s situation. _ There was a small voice in the back of my head that whispered ‘ _ Why not? _ ’ but I ignored it. I did my best to cover my mistake. “Ah, that part was more in reference to the rumors about her. A lot of them contradict each other.”  _ That’s all true, just not what I meant initially. _

He looked at me for a second then sat back. “Okay then. Let’s focus on these other people. I could see three reasons. One is teasing. I could see Ms. Parker teasing you but I doubt it would unsettle you this much. Two would be that she is hiding something from you. However, it’s Ms. Parker and she directly refused your scouting missions into her personal life.”

“That’s all true enough I suppose. Both of those don’t sound right. What’s three?”

He pursed his lips. “I don’t know if I should tell you.”

I glared at him. “Hey, don’t you dare hold back now. I talked, now help me.”

“I don’t want to tell you because I know you. More specifically I know your nature. It could… no it probably would, lead to a mess.”

“I don’t know whether to be touched that you care or offended that you think I am an omen of trouble.”

The worst part was that he responded with a completely straight face. “You are.”

I could only slide down in my seat and stare at him from just over the tabletop. “Then what am I supposed to do. If you know me so well you know I can’t just let it go.”

He sighed. “Yeah. I know.” He looked at me for a long time. We had been good friends for years but it wasn’t time that had dug our bond so deep. I didn’t have a lot of friends in middle school. I didn’t get bullied much but it was a lonely experience. My family situation had just deteriorated and I was bitter towards the world. Whether out of simple kindness or some deeper ulterior motive, Lawrence helped me escape. To this day we have kept at arm’s length but I’ve never been closer to anyone.

“El, please.”  _ I need your help. _

“Okay. But you have to promise me that you’ll come tell me the second you start making trouble.”

“I promise I won’t start making trouble.”

“No, bad. Don’t make promises you won’t keep.” He gave me a harsh glare.

“Fine. I promise I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

He tilted his head. “Sure, close enough.”

_ There is no way this whole thing is that bad, right? _

“The third reason I can think of… keep in mind this is just a theory, just my perspective, it could be totally off base.” He paused and looked for my reaction. “The most common reason people talk vaguely is because there is a delicate subject that they don’t want to bring up. It could be inappropriate, uncomfortable, insensitive, or even dangerous. Think about the beginning of this conversation. You and I danced around a certain name just because of how awkward it would make things to specifically mention her.”

“So there is something they don’t want to talk about?”

“Yeah. Don’t go meddling. There is a reason why they don’t want to talk about it.”

_ But…  _

“No. I can see what you are thinking.” We had another stare down. “No, you know what? I’ve changed my mind. Go find out. Go find out what everyone is so desperate to avoid. You won’t stop thinking about it until you do, right? It’s not like I can stop you, I might as well encourage you. I voiced my warnings, that’s my job done, the consequences are yours to handle.”

I smiled. “Thanks, I appreciate your support.”

He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. “What type of monster have I endorsed? Why does your grin scream that this is a bad idea?”

“It’s not! I promise, I’ll find out without anyone knowing then everything will be back to normal.”

“I would say don’t make promises you can’t keep but I know you won’t be keeping this one!”

“I think you underestimate my confidentiality and discretion.”

He had the audacity to scoff at this. “You’re as discreet as a berserker. It’s okay if this turns into a bit of a mess but don’t try and pretend like it won’t.” I pouted but silently appreciated his sentiment. “So what now?”

“Oh, I didn’t get that far.”

Lawrence rolled his eyes. “Of course you didn’t. Go get the information you want. You have ways to do so, right?”

_ No? Yeah…  _ The final bits of conversation with Ms. Crowflower echoed in my head.  _ I suppose I could go over. She asked me to, but I don’t know if she was serious. She seemed quite welcoming, I’m sure if I ask her about some things she’ll answer.  _

“It seems like you’re thinking about it again. I take that as my cue.” He gave a light wave and disappeared before I could respond.

_ I guess… I guess it couldn’t hurt to stop by. _


End file.
